Winds of Change Chapter 8

"Emma. Emma" Sam calls as he comes into the house.

"In here Sam" Emma calls from the kitchens "What is it, what's wrong?"

"Is Lou still here?"

"No she left this morning right after she you went to work. Whats the matter?"

"Don't know exactly but I got a wire from Teaspoon. Buck and Jimmy are headed here to get her. Looks like she didn't tell us everything, don't know the details just that she's in trouble and they're coming to get her. Hopefully they will meet her on the trail."

"Well then there may be a problem, I don't know if she was headed back to Rock Creek."

…..

"I'm telling ya Earl, that's her!" Virgil stood on the hill looking at the rider headed out of the small town of Fontanelle.

"But Virgil that's a boy; we ain't looking for no boy." They'd been hunting bounty together for a few years, they always got what they went after and they weren't too particular about the 'alive' part, but Earl was worried they would miss out on the $500 if they went after the wrong prey.

Virgil mounted his horse and turned "That's her, I tell ya, that's the same woman we saw in Fremont two days ago at the mercantile and the same one on the poster, she's just dressed up like a boy is all. We'll track her for a while and get her before she gets to Fort Kearny."

…

Lou slows Lightening down, looking for that little place where she used to stop when making special runs through Fort Kearney to Lincoln. They need to take a break and this spot was one of her favorites. They had already spent one night on the trail, but tonight she wanted to get Jamie to Fort Kearny so they could sleep inside.

"Well little one" she talks quietly to the baby asleep in against her chest. "We'll take a break here and should be able to make Fort Kearny well before dark and then I guess we'll head to Rock Creek tomorrow and you get to meet Grandpa Teaspoon and Grandma Rachel" She lays her sleeping baby on the ground, wrapped in the blanket and gets her bedroll off Lightening. "You'll like them, but even if we have to ride on at least they will have a chance to meet you." Lou lays the bedroll out for the baby to rest on and reaches for the saddlebags still on her horse "Alright sweet girl let's see what else Grandma Emma packed us to eat. I think there are a fe…." Ahhggg Lou gasps in pain not hearing the shot until she felt it ripping through her body and as she drops to her knees she draws her revolver and begins firing in the direction the shot came from.

….

"She will be fine Jimmy" Buck look over at his friend deep in thought.

"I know but it's hard not to think about all she's been through and I can't believe Kid's being gone. Who else we gonna lose Buck? Hell half of us are gone, me, you, Cody and Lou, we're all that's left" Jimmy still looked deep in thought "It's not right Lou having to deal with all that alone. He shouldn't 'a left her. Just to go fight and For what?"

"You still love her." Buck stated.

Jimmy just nodded; his expression didn't change "Never stopped."

Buck was quiet for a moment "Why didn't you and she get together? We all knew how you felt about her."

"We came close a few times, I don't know if she ever told anyone about what happened in Willow springs. It seemed best not to talk about it."

"No" Buck shook his head "No she didn't. What happened?"

"She wasn't safe around me, I reckon no one is. We had a run to Willow Springs about the same time Kid started seeing that school teacher…."

"Samantha, wasn't it?" Buck asked.

"…. Yea, Lou was pretty hurt by something Kid had said about them breaking up and him moving on and when we got to Willow Springs the pouch was delayed so we stayed over. Lou got to dress up and we had a nice dinner, she even got me to dance…."Jimmy smiled as he remembered Lou in the blue dress he bought her and how she giggled drinking wine for the first time "….there was a man in town, Hopkins, he had called me out a year before and when I shot him he lost his arm. So to get back at me he kidnapped Lou. He kept her tied up in a shed somewhere outside of town overnight and he got a message to me telling me where to meet him the next morning. When I got there he had Lou …" Jimmy paused and swallowed hard, it was hard to talk about, even after all this time the feelings from that day still felt fresh. ".…He had Lou standing on a big log with a noose tight around her neck, her hands tied behind her back and she was barely balancing on her toes. She tried to look brave, but I could tell she was scared. The noose was up and over a limb high in the tree and it was tied to his horse, Hopkins wanted me to shoot him so that the horse would bolt and hang Lou. That was his payback, not taking my life but taking the life of someone I cared about. Buck I never been so scared, seeing her like that. She could have died because of me."

"But she didn't." Buck stated looking at his friend "You rescued her."

Jimmy just kept riding and looked ahead "After that I knew I couldn't let her get close so I backed off; I took the longer runs so I wouldn't have to be around her, I tried to stay away and I know that hurt her but it was better than someone else knowing how much she meant to me and using her to get to me. I pushed her away a few times, kept pushing her towards Kid…." Jimmy was thinking about the trip to Fort Kearny about how she stood by the fire and how she reached out to him, clearly trying to let him know how she felt. He often thought of the look in her eyes when she told him he was a better man than he thought, he'd never forgotten that look, it surprised him. He thought about their kiss and how she tasted that night. Tasted like Love and hope, like his future. And when she tried to talk about it he pushed her away and he knew he'd lost her.

"But I knew she was better off with Kid, I knew he'd give her a good life when I couldn't. I thought he'd keep her safe."

"Jimmy You can't live your life like that, not letting anyone get close. Lou needs you now, don't push her away."

"I'll always be her friend Buck and like all her brothers I'll be here for her, but I always felt like I ain't meant for that life, like what you an Emily have or Teaspoon and Rachel. That family life; just never felt like it was in my cards."

"Do you want a….." Buck started but was interrupted by the sounds of gunshots. The friends drew their horses up and stopped, "That way" Jimmy said pointing north east of the trail they were on.

"I got a bad feeling Jimmy" Buck said as they heard several more shots, and then silence except the sound of a baby crying. Both riders spurred their horses and rode towards the gun fire.

…

As the boys rode up they saw Lightening running along the trail, Buck reached out to grab the reins of the runaway horse.

"Over there!" Jimmy shouted pointing towards Lou's body lying face down next to the creek and a crying bundle next to her.

Jimmy and Buck jump from their horses and run to her "No Lou no" Jimmy cries as he rolls her over, he can see she is covered in blood where at least one bullet tore through her left side. As Buck picks up the baby, Lou struggles to get up and cries out "No No don't touch her."

"Lou honey, stop stop it's me Jimmy and Buck has the baby. The baby's fine right Buck?" Jimmy says trying to staunch the bleeding on Lou's side.

"Jimmy? Buck? What are you doing here?" Lou was still struggling to get up.

Jimmy was trying to calm Lou "Sweetheart you have to be still, you're losing a lot of blood."

Buck picked up the crying bundle and opened the blanket making sure the baby wasn't harmed as he was looking her over, Buck's expression changed. He looked back towards Jimmy and back to the baby resting in his arms.

Seeing his friends' strange expression Jimmy asks "What Buck? What is it? Is she hurt, Let me see."

"No" Lou screams and looking as Buck wraps Jamie back in the blanket, "Get her outta here Buck, Please take her and run…."

"Damn it Buck is she hurt!" Jimmy yells. Buck nods never taking his eyes off of Lou "No No jimmy she's fine, just sacred."

Lou sees a stunned and surprised look on Bucks face "I'm sorry Buck, I shouldn't have come back, I'm sorry please just go, take her and keep her safe" Lou turns back to Jimmy.

"Who was shooting at me Jimmy, Why why?"

"Bounty hunters, you're wanted in Virginia for..." Jimmy started to say as they heard voices calling from across the creek …..

"Just let us have the woman; we know she's hit, just leave her, we don't care about the kid go on take the baby but leave her. Or we can kill all of ya, kid and all."

Lou grabs Bucks coat pleading "Please take her she's innocent; she shouldn't have to suffer for what I've done. Keep her safe. Please Buck I'm beggin ya, I'm hurt real bad…."

Jimmy interrupts "Lou you're gonna be fine, I promise, I'm gonna get you out here."

Lou is crying "Buck please take her and if you and Emily can't raise her get her to Emma, but please, don't let them take her. Please Buck, get her outta here."

Jimmy continues to try and stop the flowing from Lou's body. Buck looks at Jimmy "I'm taking her; we'll meet up in Rock Creek. I'm taking the Northern trail, if they follow me I can out run them and then you go on to Fort Kearny, get Lou to a doctor."

Lou lays back on the ground sighing with relief, talking takes all her strength "Take my saddle bags… food and diapers are in them... Thank you Buck, I'm so sorry, tell her I love her…"

"You can tell her yourself in Rock Creek." Buck said grabbing the reins of his horse, he mounted up, reached across Lightening for the saddle bags and rode away.

Lou looked back to Jimmy "Jimmy set me up against the tree and hand me my guns"

"Lou you can't…."

"Shut up Jimmy" She says struggling sit up "listen to me. I'm hurt real bad, don't think I'm gonna make it, I'll cover you. You ride outta here; they won't follow you as long as they have me."

"Lou I ain't leaving you, I can't leave you."

The voice of one of the bounty hunter calls put "Last chance, leave her to us or die with her, makes no never mind to us"

Jimmy hands Lou her revolver and a rifle and grabs his colts "Can't be more than 2 or 3, I'm going around, you pick 'em off if they get close" Jimmy starts to leave, looks back and softly touches her face. Jimmy smacks Sundancer on the rump; the horse goes running off hopefully making the bounty hunters think he's leaving.

Lou waits; giving Jimmy time to get around "I'm here" she calls out. "They're gone, come finish it"

Two men come out from behind the rocks across the creek and start toward her. 'Closer closer' Lou thinks to herself. She feels herself starting to slip in and out of consciousness she takes a deep breath and tries to stay with it, "Over here fellas" she calls,"I'm hurt, hurt bad I can't walk you gotta come get me. Come on" she yells "come finish me, I'm done."

As they cross the creek and get closer Lou lifts her weapon and fires, she fires again and keeps firing, she finishes her revolver and tries to pick up the rifle but can't and as she slumps forward allowing the darkness to envelope her, she thinks of Jimmy and Jamie and she hopes they can forgive her.

…

"A girl! It's a girl. Louise honey she is beautiful. We'll get her cleaned up so you can see her. Horace! Horace come in here"

Lou's mind was racing from excitement and exhaustion 'A girl, we have a daughter. Oh Kid a girl, a precious girl.

"Louise honey let's get you cleaned up. Horace is swaddling your baby, do you have a name for her" Mrs. Snyder asks as she helps Lou deliver the after birth and cleans her up.

"Names, No, I mean we just talked about names for boys, never really thought it's would be a girl. If it was a boy we were' going to name him James, after our best friend Jimmy. But" Lou smiled "I guess I can't call her that"

"Well honey, if he means that much to you, you could call her Jamie, my sister was called Jamie after our grandfather, his name was James too." Mrs. Snyder pulls the blanket over Lou as Mr. Snyder comes in, Horace hands his wife the baby now wrapped in a blanket and sleeping peacefully. She smiles at the little bundle in her arms as she lays her next to Lou.

"Jamie, I like that." Lou says drawing her baby close as she pulls the blanket away from her daughters face "Jimmy" is all she can say "Oh Jimmy what have I done."

Oh Jimmy Jimmy….

Jimmy Jimmy…..

"I'm here Lou, it's alright I'm here" Jimmy hadn't left her side since finding her unconscious. He had managed to get behind the men tracking Lou; he shot the taller one and one of her bullets found the other. Both were dead. Jimmy got Lou on Sundancer, climbed up behind her and rode to Fort Kearny like his life depended on it. That was two days ago, the doctor said the bullet went through, but she had lost a lot of blood, and the bullet had broken several ribs and that had done some damage to a lung. He did what he could now it was up to Lou to do the healing. Jimmy wet and rung out a cool cloth and wipe Lou's face and neck just trying to keep her comfortable. "mmmmm, Jimmy is that you?"

"Yea Sweetheart, it's me, open your eyes, look at me Lou, please open your eyes."

Lou struggled to open her eyes "Where's Jamie?" she tried to lift her head

"Buck took her to Rock Creek remember" Jimmy took the cool cloth and wiped her forehead again.

"Safe, is she safe?" Lou closed her eyes and let her head fall back onto the pillows.

"Yes, Buck got word to us this morning, they're safe at home."

Lou moaned in pain and felt a tear slip down her face "then they know, they know" and she lost consciousness again.

"Know what honey? Lou … Lou" Jimmy felt her hand go limp and fall back on the bed.

"Louise she is such a beautiful baby and those eyes so different, amber colored like that, well honey I hope they never change and all that dark brown hair. One of my boys had a full head of hair like that…" Mrs. Snyder kept talking in her lovely southern drawl as she helped Lou around the house. It had been a week since Jaimie was born and Mrs. Snyder had stayed to help out.

"Thank you Mrs. Snyder, she looks like my father, got his eyes and hair" Lou lied.

Lou would just sit and look at Jamie, she was beautiful, the most beautiful baby she had ever seen, she was tiny and had Lou's nose but with those eyes, mouth and that hair. She looked just like Jimmy. And anyone who knew Jimmy would see it.